Reverend Joseph Fish In Colonial America

Reverend Joseph Fish was born on January 28, 1705 in Duxburg, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, US. He was the third son of Thomas Fish and Margaret Woodward. He was a Pastor of the Church of Christ in Stonington. He died on May 16, 1781 in North Stonington, New London County, Connecticut, US. He was buried at the Great Plain Cemetery.

Reverend Joseph Fish went to Harvard College and graduated in 1728. One of his classmates at Harvard was Reverend Nathaniel Eells, who would end up being his long time friend and neighbor.

Rev Fish married Rebecca, who was the daughter of William Pabodie, on December 6, 1732. Rebecca was also the great granddaughter of John Alden. As per records, Reverend Joseph Fish and Rebecca had three children -- two girls and one son.

Reverend Joseph Fish in Colonial America was a Congregationalist. When he and his young wife first came to Stonington, his congregation was not as affluent as others. However, Joseph knew that he and his wife would never fall short of anything. Gradually the Fish family did well for themselves and managed to purchase a modest farm and employed a few servants. They even had a couple of slaves.

The most notable part of Reverend Joseph Fish was his voice and he used it to the maximum when delivering sermons. His magnetizing voice along with straight and tall carriage was sufficient to win over the churchgoers.

Reverend Fish was against the Baptists and there are some records available that show that he used his sermons and other means to attack them. Being a Puritan, he was against exhorters, who were normally women and was genuinely shocked when he encountered them during sermons.

In Colonial America, people regarded visiting the church as an important event and believed that it ought to be an all day procedure. The American colonies had houses of worship. However, what the people imbibed in those church services depended on where they lived. More..